This is Halloween
by i-love-svu
Summary: Grissom and Lady Heather go to a Halloween party with Heather's infant granddaughter. It should be interesting... GrissomHeather
1. Costumes

**Disclaimer: I do not own CSI.**

**Author's Note: I love Halloween, and I love Grissom/Heather. You see where I'm going with this?**

* * *

Gil Grissom knocked three times on the old oak door. He was used to this now; three months ago, when he started seeing Heather again, he started a bit of a tradition. He would rap on the door three times, wait for a moment, and then enter. It was just something they did, and neither really understood why but when along with it.

He entered and the aroma of vanilla clouded his senses. Heather always wore the faint yet overpowering French vanilla perfume, but had never smelled that strong. He pondered it for a moment, and decided it didn't matter. With a grin he strode off to the living room to wait for Heather. Even though they had arranged the date a while ago, he knew she'd be just a little late.

During the previous month, Heather had come to terms with Zoe's death. It had been a long and very painful process, but once it was done she had decided it was time to see if she had a grandchild somewhere out there. Gil did everything within his power to answer this; he stayed late at the lab, searched birth certificates, anything he could to help the brunette. One very late night, he had come across a birth certificate that had no father's name listed and the mother's name clearly started with a 'Z' but the rest had been blotted out. Of course the aged Entomologist had to check things out. He spent a week going over the certificate, uncovering the name. Finally, after four days, the name was uncovered: Zoe Kessler.

The baby had been placed in a foster home, and was only three months old. The woman at the foster home said a girl had begged to her care for the child until she was able to raise it herself. Gil, with the help of Captain Jim Brass, had been able to gets things all sorted so that Heather could raise the infant. The entomologist remembered the first time she held the baby; he had been there, he had been the one to gently hand the child to her. She had cried, the clear tears glistening beautifully on her pale cheeks. And all the while, the little child stared up at her grandmother, watching the brunette with what appeared to be very intense fascination.

Heather arrived at the bottom of the stairs, jolting Gil from his thoughts. She smiled at him, baby Audrey cradled in her arms. "Ready to go?"

Gil stared at her in disbelief but said nothing. He'd explain in the car. "Sure, let's go."

* * *

"Gil, please explain this to me again," Heather raised one brow as she glanced at him from the passenger seat. "We're going to a Halloween party?"

"Yes. It is Halloween, and I thought it'd be fun." He flipped his turn signal on, and pulled the steering wheel to the right. "Now tell me, why aren't you in costume?"

"I am." The brunette grinned happily as she turned around to check on her grandchild, who was sleeping in her car seat. "Don't you know who I am?"

Heather gestured to her silk red dress. The garment tied behind her neck, had a sloped hemline to make her legs look even more amazing, and fit her like a glove. Gil thought for a moment but couldn't figure out who she was supposed to be, so he shook his head.

"I'm Scarlett from Gone with the Wind. So the dress isn't exactly like hers, but it's close." She giggled quietly. "I find your costume to be rather amusing."

Gil shot her a warning look, but it didn't help things. She started laughing harder, but managed to calm down after a few moments. Gil Grissom, the best crime scene investigator in Las Vegas and maybe the world, was dressed as a zombie. Yes, a zombie. His skin had been painted green with some sort of face paint; a few faux cuts had been made out of clay to complete the "dead" look. And he was wearing a tux, evidentially something he thought that zombies wore.

"It's Halloween!" Gil tried to defend his costume. "I thought you would be wearing something scary too."

"I've always wanted to wear this dress out and I thought this would be the perfect time." Heather placed on hand on Gil's arm and lowered her voice. "I want to thank you again, for helping me find her. I don't know what I would've done without you."

Gil smiled at the brunette. "It was no problem. I'm glad we found her." He pulled into the parking lot of their destination, and shut the car off. "Shall we?"

"Sure you won't be embarrassed in your costume?" Heather inquired as she unfastened Audrey from her car seat. The infant fussed quietly for a moment until Heather cradled her in her arms.

"At least my outfit wasn't made from curtains," Gil retorted with a chuckle.

Heather feigned a hurt look and the two strode into the large building laughing softly to themselves.


	2. Chapter 3

"Monster Mash" began playing, not too loudly and not so softly that one couldn't hear it. An hour had gone by, and Catherine was still chatting happily with Heather. They had just gotten started on relationships when Lindsey approached the two.

"Um, Heather, I think she may be hungry." The teen carefully handed the fussing infant to her grandmother. "She just started crying. I was being gentle and everything, I swear," Lindsey explained.

"It's okay, honey," Heather calmed both the teen and the infant at the same time with her words. Once Audrey had been quieted down, she refocused her attention on Lindsey. "She's been rather fussy lately," The brunette told the blonde teen. "You did nothing wrong, okay?"

Lindsey nodded, reassured that she hadn't hurt the baby. The teen told her mother she was going to call some friends on her cell, and that she'd be at their table. Catherine nodded, not wanting to argue with her daughter in front of Heather.

Heather gently patted Audrey's back to soothe the crying infant. The effort was fruitless and overtop the cries of her infant granddaughter, the brunette told Catherine she'd be back in just a moment; that she needed to go out to the car and get Audrey's bottle. She hummed to the infant in her arms as she strode out of the building to the spot where Gil had parked his car. It wasn't really a song, just a little something she had made up.

Smiling down at Audrey, Heather seated herself in the front passenger seat. She somehow managed to reach into the back and pull the diaper bag containing the bottles out of the back seat and up to the front, all the while, keeping Audrey cradled safely in her left arm. The bottles didn't really need heated; with the help of Gil, the two of them had come up with a small contraption to keep the bottles at just the right temperature. Their invention consisted of a few small dish towels and three packets of Instant Heat. The instant heat packages were small things hunters and people who worked outdoors in the cold often used to keep their feet and hands warm; they didn't get too hot or too cold, and they kept the formula in the bottles at just the right heat. It was ingenious, she had to admit.

Heather pulled a bottle out of the diaper bag, popped the top off and the look on Audrey's face was priceless. She knew it was time to eat and she was obviously happy about it. The tiny infant kicked her legs as she happily accepted the bottle. Heather watched with a mild fascination; the child in her arms looked unmistakably like Zoe. Yes, Audrey was Zoe's child, but Heather hadn't ever imagined that a child could look so much like their mother.

"Is everything okay?" Gil's voice scared Heather and she jumped.

"Jeez!" She pressed her free hand into her chest and was shocked to feel her heart hammering so hard it was as though she was holding it in her palm. "Oh, yes, everything's fine. She was hungry."

Gil smiled. "Are you enjoying the party?"

Heather wiped a bit of spit up from Audrey's cheek with a rag she quickly pulled from the diaper bag. She grinned down at the baby before answering. "Yes, the party is great. Catherine and I were talking; it was rather fun." She paused briefly as if she was going over something of dire importunacy. "Do you think Catherine would watch Audrey so you and I could spend some time together?"

With a raised eyebrow, Gil wasn't sure how to respond. He knew Catherine would of course watch the infant, but he shocked that Heather wanted to spend time with him. The past months had just been about finding Audrey. Gil and Heather had grown closer; they knew practically everything about the other and vice versa. He hadn't really considered the chance of a relationship between them, although it did seem like a nice idea. Gil realized that while he had been going over everything in his head, he had left Heather's question unanswered.

"Sure," He hastily replied. "I'm sure she'd be happy to keep an eye on Audrey."

Heather smiled happily. Gil helped her place a rag on her shoulder so she could burp the infant. As they strode back into the building, Heather gently patting Audrey's back, they talked quietly and occasionally laughing.

Just inside the door, Gil deepened his voice and said "I must say, my dear, out of all these people, you are the most delectable looking specimen in this room."

Heather laughed for a moment. With her fabulous since of humor she replied, "Gil, let's see if Catherine can watch Audrey. I don't want you hitting on me in her presence; it could scar her for life."

They walked off to find the blonde, and while Gil was still chuckling softly, he agreed completely. And he did not want to be responsible for scarring a child for life. He made a mental note to refrain from any comments that could be misconstrued as "hitting on Heather" comments.


	3. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Final chapter. I hope it's worth reading. :)

* * *

**

"It's been an interesting evening, hasn't it?" Gil commented with a smile. He and Heather were dancing; his arms around her waist and hers around his neck. They were close, but not too close. Since they hadn't really considered the possibility of a relationship, the two of them dancing resembled a high school couple; you've seen those couples, the ones who are visibly interested in each other but don't want to make it obvious.

"Yes, it has." Heather grinned back and after looking him in the eye, rested her head on his shoulder. She felt him tense up for a moment, but relaxed as they lazily swayed to the "spooky" slow music.

_After they had asked Catherine to watch Audrey, the two returned to the dance floor. It was almost nine o'clock and the DJ had begun playing slow songs for those people who wanted to dance to something that hadn't been played in a horror film. Gil started the conversation with discussing their jobs, even though they both knew exactly what was going on in each other's lives. The quiet banter was awkward, but just briefly. Things livened up within seconds._

_Greg had begun talking to a rather good looking woman; her shimmering witch gown made her the center of attention, especially considering she was standing under a bright light. The light made her glisten like a spark in the middle of the night and Greg, naturally drawn to shiny things, gave her one of his lines and they began talking. Somehow, Greg managed to offend the lady with one of his pickup lines. Gil and Heather watched with amusement as the woman poured her huge glass of blood-red punch all over the youngest CSI, then walked away in a huff. Greg just stood there looking shocked, drenched, and unsure of why "Is it hot in here or is it just you?" was considered offensive._

"Can you tell I work with people who are sometimes rather odd?"

"I don't know where you get that impression," Heather replied. As Gil looked at her, confusion covering his face, she explained with a laugh. "Sarcasm, a girl's best friend."

Gil nodded, adding a chuckle of his own.

The minutes passed so fast it was shocking. Heather started talking about Audrey, her favorite topic that wasn't too hard for both of them to talk about, and the next time they checked the clock it was going on eleven.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry," Heather apologized. She shook her head, clearly embarrassed over her ability to talk about Audrey for, literally, hours.

"It's okay, really." Gil took her arms in his hands, holding her close yet far enough away to study her. "Heather, it's alright. Should I take you home now? I mean, I'm sure you have a schedule that you follow, with the baby and all…"

Heather smiled, still looking apologetic. "Yes, please. I'm trying to keep Audrey on a schedule… and there I go again." She laughed quietly. "Yes, if you don't mind, I do need to get home."

They strode to the table where Catherine was seated and were slightly shocked to see her speaking in a baby voice to the infant. Audrey, in her car seat which was sitting on top of the table, kicked and cooed happily at the sound of Catherine's voice.

"Sorry to interrupt," Gil smiled, "But I need to steal her away from you."

Catherine grinned up at the two. She'd never tell them, especially since Gil was a zombie at the moment, but they looked good together. "Heather," The blonde started, ignoring Gil, "It was lovely seeing you. And anytime you need someone to watch Audrey, call me."

Heather thanked Catherine as she picked up Audrey's car seat. Gil gently took the crook of Heather's elbow in the palm of his hand as they walked out of the building, smiling from ear to ear. When they reached his vehicle, Gil carefully placed Audrey's car seat on the back seat of the Tahoe and buckled it in. Once she was safely strapped in, Gil opened Heather's door for her.

"Thanks," She whispered as she climbed into the vehicle, being not to rip or get her dress dirty.

"Are you okay?" Gil asked as he started the car and backed out of the parking lot.

Heather smiled over at him. "I'm fine. Just tired and my sugar is a bit low." She paused, closing her eyes as a wave nausea washed over her. "Do you happen to have a piece of gum, a mint, anything of the sort?"

Gil pointed to the glove box with his right hand. "Check there. If there's nothing in there, we'll find a gas station."

He watched from the corner of his eye as Heather opened the glove box, her hands shaking, and she pulled out a packet of gum. Hastily she peeled the wrapper off and began chewing the gum, amazing elegant all the while.

"Did that help?" Gil arrived at a red light. He removed his hands from the steering wheel and took Heather's hands in his; her hands were still shaking, and that's what worried him.

"Yes, it did." She smiled at him, and glanced down at their hands and entwined fingers. "Thank you."

As the light turned green and the cars behind him began honking, Gil tore himself away from Heather to continue the drive to her house.

* * *

"Thank you for such a wonderful evening," Heather told Gil as she pulled her brown hair into a loose ponytail. "And I'm sure if Audrey could talk, she's thank you also."

Gil had accompanied her into the house, carrying Audrey's car seat for her. She had objected profusely, telling him that it wasn't necessary, but he wouldn't listen. He insisted that she check her sugar, so while she was doing so, Gil picked Audrey up from her car seat and placed her in her crib. Now that she was sleeping again, the two adults were standing by her crib, just talking softly.

Heather glanced into Audrey's crib for a moment, and then slowly walked toward the door. With Gil close behind, the brunette strode down the stairs, stopping only when she reached the bottom.

"I had a good time too. Thank you for going with me." Gil smiled and walked to the front door. He pulled it open and walked out to his vehicle; upon reaching the car, he turned around to find Heather standing on the porch. Gil remembered that after she had checked her sugar and found out that it was not longer low, she had changed out of her red dress and into semi-tight pants and a t-shirt.

"Heather?" Gil ran his over the back of his neck.

"Yes?" Heather took a few steps off of the porch.

Gil grinned. "There's a Thanksgiving party coming up, and…"

"Yes, I'd love to go," Heather answered his question without even hearing it.

Gil gave her a kiss, a small one before going back to his vehicle. As he opened his driver's door, Heather's nearing footsteps made him turn around.

"But if you think I'm dressing up as a pilgrim, you're out of your mind."

Heather walked back to her house with a smile, suppressing her laughter. Gil shook his head as he got into his vehicle. It had been a very interesting day, indeed. Hopefully Thanksgiving wouldn't resemble their Halloween 'date'.

But of course, it is Las Vegas. And you never know what will happen in the city of sin.


End file.
